As the underground bionetwork of a mushroom colony, mycelium founds and feeds the organism as a whole. Its super-fine filaments extract and absorb nutrients from the immediate environment to propagate and grow, branching out unseen throughout the earth. Confined to more compact conditions, the threads wind and bind instead, and the mycelium transforms to a solid. 

If that solid is heated to halt further growth, it takes another new form: a powerfully strong aggregate that’s naturally water-resistant, fireproof, biodegradable, biocompatible, sustainable and carbon-neutral. It’s a matter for the ages — and, in the future, we hope it matters a lot more.  

Fathomers came to mycelium through artist and inventor Phil Ross, founder of MycoWorks, whose sculptural experiments with fungal cells in the early 1990s led to a practice now globally recognized as foundational to the field of mycotecture, the art and science of building with mycelium. 

In keeping with his generous commitment to share the fundamentals of mycotecture as open-source technology, Phil taught us everything we needed to know to sustainably cultivate our own mycelium — including how to source fungal cultures and agricultural waste from local suppliers, and how to process a living block of mycelium so that it doesn’t eat your office or home by mistake.

Make a contribution to Fathomers, and we’ll send you a set of our artist-produced, limited-edition, bio-wondrous mini-bricks of gratitude in return!